Why You Can Rejoice

“After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” (Acts 16:23-26)

The reason you can rejoice when painful things happen isn’t because suffering causes you to be more acceptable to God. He isn’t a sadist, and He isn’t training you to be one either. We can rejoice when challenges arise because God’s grace to deal with every stressful situation is infinitely greater than the situation itself. Every time the enemy takes a shot at you, it’s an opportunity to experience God’s presence and provision in far more powerful ways than the attack. With every failure, rejection, and trial you deal with, there is an invitation to overcome it with boundless measures of His grace, hope, joy, and peace. Rejoice, because whether today is wonderful or difficult, you are completely loved.